Yosemite superintendent leaving for fundraiser

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK Park Service veteran presided over many upgrades since 2002

Michael J. Tollefson, Yosemite Park Superintendent Ten years ago on January 1-3, 1997, heavy rain and warm temperatures on top of a heavy snowpack on the peaks surrounding Yosemite Valley caused the greatest flood ever seen in Yosemite since gauging stations were first installed on the Merced River over 80 years ago. The valley lost approximately half of its campsites (about 350), 200 concession employee housing units, over 50% of accommodations at the Yosemite Lodge, and 33 backcountry bridges. The valley was closed for two and a half months for repairs that are still going on today. Photo taken on 1/11/07 by Michael Maloney / San Francisco Chronicle less

Michael J. Tollefson, Yosemite Park Superintendent Ten years ago on January 1-3, 1997, heavy rain and warm temperatures on top of a heavy snowpack on the peaks surrounding Yosemite Valley caused the greatest ... more

Photo: Michael Maloney, SFC

Photo: Michael Maloney, SFC

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Michael J. Tollefson, Yosemite Park Superintendent Ten years ago on January 1-3, 1997, heavy rain and warm temperatures on top of a heavy snowpack on the peaks surrounding Yosemite Valley caused the greatest flood ever seen in Yosemite since gauging stations were first installed on the Merced River over 80 years ago. The valley lost approximately half of its campsites (about 350), 200 concession employee housing units, over 50% of accommodations at the Yosemite Lodge, and 33 backcountry bridges. The valley was closed for two and a half months for repairs that are still going on today. Photo taken on 1/11/07 by Michael Maloney / San Francisco Chronicle less

Michael J. Tollefson, Yosemite Park Superintendent Ten years ago on January 1-3, 1997, heavy rain and warm temperatures on top of a heavy snowpack on the peaks surrounding Yosemite Valley caused the greatest ... more

Photo: Michael Maloney, SFC

Yosemite superintendent leaving for fundraiser

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

Yosemite National Park Superintendent Michael Tollefson will step down in January to become president of the Yosemite Fund, a nonprofit agency that raises money for the park.

The announcement will be made today by the National Park Service and the Yosemite Fund. Tollefson will replace Bob Hansen, the fund's president, who announced his retirement this year.

Tollefson, 61, has worked for the Park Service for 36 years and has been superintendent of Yosemite since 2002, the longest tenure of the top manager at the park in more than 40 years.

Yosemite, considered one of the premier national parks in the world, has been the focus of public interest and political pressure for years, and the superintendent has often been in the eye of controversies over the future and direction of the park.

The previous two superintendents left Yosemite under unusual circumstances. David Mihalic, Tollefson's predecessor, retired from the Park Service after he was offered - and refused - reassignment to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Stanley Albright, the superintendent before Mihalic, retired under pressure from Bruce Babbitt, secretary of the interior in the Clinton administration.

Tollefson, however, has had much more success as the top manager in Yosemite. During his administration, several projects were completed, including new viewing facilities at the foot of Yosemite Falls and improvements to landmark areas such as the famous view spots near the Wawona Tunnel and at Olmsted Point on the Tioga Road.

In addition, the visitor center in the valley was overhauled, and the Park Service obtained hybrid buses for visitors to replace a fleet of diesel buses that spewed smoke and fumes.

Many of the improvements were paid for by the Yosemite Fund, which raised more than $15 million in donations over three years. The Yosemite Fund also raised $13.5 million for trail work at the Mariposa Grove of big trees, as well as in Yosemite Valley and in the park's spectacular backcountry.

Hansen, who headed the fund for more than 20 years, was a key figure in the organization's fundraising activities. During his term, the fund raised more than $45 million for 200 Yosemite Park projects not funded by the government.

"He really put the Yosemite Fund on the map," Tollefson said.

Tollefson said the Yosemite Fund job was a great opportunity, and that he had been thinking about retiring for some months. "I'll be 62 this winter," he said. "It's time."

Tollefson, who grew up in Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington, began his Park Service career as a seasonal ranger in the North Cascades National Park in 1972. He became a full-time ranger assigned to Katmai National Park in Alaska the next year.

He went into park management in 1983 and served as superintendent of Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska in 1983, and later Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina.